Mrs. Flora Azikiwe cleaning the house while with a guest.

Mrs. Flora Azikiwe cleaning the house while with a guest.

One thing people didn’t know about Flora Azikiwe was the fact that she never let her husband’s position as Premier, then Governor-general, and later, President enter her head.

“I do things every good housewife should,” she once told a gathering in 1959.

Among other things, she was the President of the Young Women Christian Association (YWCA). She was also an honorary Red Cross official. Yet, she ensured that she carried out the usual daily house chores as a housewife as seen in this photo taken in 1959.

She was a teacher when she got married. Her husband was then only a journalist, but he was fast climbing the ladder into big-time politics. So, she felt there were certain things which the wife of every politician should know (The things that would enable her to mix easily with all sorts of people and understand them).

For this reason, she went overseas, studied and became an expert in human relations and she truly utilised same for the success of her husband.

Mrs. Flora Azikiwe cleaning the house while with a guest.